kmaherali wrote:
No doubt Al Muayyad attained great heights of knowledge, but in our Tariqah there have been many individuals who have attained those heights. For example all the Pirs were bearers of the Noor and were responsible to make Farmans on behalf of the Imam, hence they were considered as having attained perfection in knowledge. MSMS has indicated that the Ginans are the tafsir of the Qur'an and they very clearly indicate the efficacy of reincarnation. Go through this thread, there are Farmans which also allude to reincarnation.
Though it is not something that we should aspire for, but it can happen if we are not careful.
No doubt, whatever the Pirs (r.a.) and the Imams (a.s) say is 100% correct. However, we must understand that the Pirs (r.a.) were dealing with people who were not originally Muslims. They were trying to revert these people back to Sirat al-Mustaqeem. These people had their beliefs in reincarnation and so the Pirs had to deal with them that way and so did the Imams in the conterminous times.
There is a hadith of Imam al-Baqir (a.s.):
Zararah narrates that I asked a certain question to Imam al-Baqar (a.s.). He gave me its answer. Another person then asked the same question and the Imam gave him a different answer. Later a third person asked the same question, but the Imam's answer this time was different from the previous two answers. I then asked him: "O, the son of the Messenger (s.a.a.s)! The two persons who just came here to ask you questions were from Iraq and were Shias, yet you gave them contradictory answers". The Imam then answered: "O Zararah! This is good for me as well as for you and this will help us survive and prosper".
(Usool Al Kafi, p.37)
This has always been the practice of our Tariqah. During our Fatimid times, the da'is explained our Tariqah differently to different people. To the Sunni scholars, they taught our Tariqah using the Qur'an, Hadiths and their ta'wil. To the philosophers, they explained using Neo-platonic theories. All this was according to the guidance of the Imams. Likewise, the Pirs explained the Hindus using teachings which bore a resemblance to the Vedas and their other scriptures. This was also reflected in Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah (a.s.)'s farmans. However, this in no manner means that they should be regarded as being untrue. But, what it can mean is that there is a very high possibility that those teachings are allegorical. For example, Sayyedna Imam Begam (r.a.) writes in her Ginan Saiyaaji Moore-
"aare kaayaa phulanakee vaaddi
mirag chaare aare ban ko...sayyaa(n)jee
(This body is like a garden of flowers. Deer grazes in this jungle.)
Now this in no way means that there is a deer grazing inside our body. It means that gradually the cells in our body are dying. So O Momins! Rise from your sleep and walk on the spiritual path before death overtakes you.
So what Sayyidna Imam begam (r.a.) writes is not untrue. But it is allegorical because the people cannot understand her if she doesn't use such language or if she uses any scientific terms.
Likewise, what our Pirs (r.a.) and our Imams (a.s.) of adjacent times have talked about reincarnation, it can mean that things 'like' that might be experienced after death. For example, the Qur'an talks about hellfire. Now, after death, there is no body, so how can a physical fire affect the spiritual soul? Does this mean that the Qur'an is wrong? Of course, no! What it can mean is that if we do wrong in this world while we are alive, after death despite us having no body, we will face the pain (or maybe regret) in the world of souls to such an extent that it will be tantamount to our body burning in intense fire.
One more reason why it is difficult to believe in the concept rebirth is because of the concept of stages of improvement in intellect. Mawlana Rumi writes:
I died as mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was man.
We can see that there is a gradual development in the level of intellect that the soul infuses. Mineral has no intellect and no growth. A plant has growth but no intellect. There is an improvement here. An animal has growth and a tiny speck of intellect. Then comes Man who is far improved than an animal in terms of intellect.
Then Mawlana Rumi further writes:
I will die of being a man, I would rise in angels with wings,
In the next stage, I will die of being an angel I will be transformed into that which is unimaginable.
So we can see that there is a continuous development in the intellect of a soul and abandonment of desires, for without intellect a soul cannot understand Almighty.
Now MAYBE-and when I say maybe I’m speculating over here. A person who in his human form has misused his freewill and remained a slave of his desires, then he has not made any development in his intellect. In this case, a provision- maybe as rebirth in this world or by some other means in the world of hereafter is made.
. I have been aware of such cases but the reason why I was avoiding this point is because using such point brings the discussion entirely on a different plane. It cannot be mixed with the teachings of religion. Be it any religion. When this topic is discussed with a point whose foundation is on a research, the entire discussion should rest on the plane of research.